Andrew Saliba

Andrew Saliba is a guitarist and composer from San Diego, CA. Based in Kalamazoo, he performs throughout Michigan and the Chicagoland area. He has performed with and written for WMU's Advanced Jazz Ensemble and Gold Company, Miracosta College's Frequency, Jazz Collective, and Jazz Orchestra (MOJO), and the Sam Pilnick Project. He is also part of the Downbeat award-winning electronic jazz group Lushh.

In addition to awards from Miracosta College and Western Michigan University, Andrew has won several Downbeat awards: four as a member of various groups, and three individually. He recently won a 2019 Downbeat award as a soloist. In 2018, Andrew received a Downbeat Magazine award for the large-ensemble composition “Silent Minority,” following a 2016 Downbeat award as a soloist with Lushh.

Andrew is currently pursuing graduate studies in Composition and Jazz Studies at Western Michigan University, where he also teaches guitar classes as a graduate assistant. Teaching is a longstanding passion of Andrew’s: he has taught for Ubiquitous Music in San Diego, and privately in San Diego and Southwest Michigan. Andrew is currently on faculty as an instructor at the Jazz and Creative Institute of Kalamazoo.

Andrew released his debut EP, Waxes and Wanes, on February 4th, 2019. It has been described as “a creative wellspring of soaring melodies, vibrant harmonies and expert musicianship from start to finish…[Waxes and Wanes] offers every listener a way to connect to emotions that make us all human” (Local Spins).

Andrew conceptualized and composed Lushh’s 2017-2018 project, Insight Unsought. The work was a multimedia exploration combining a 10-piece chamber jazz group with electronics, dynamic live projection, and live painting. In addition to developing the concept and writing the music for the project, Andrew also compiled and wrote the poetry that formed its backbone. The work was created with the support of the Kalamazoo Arts Council, and described as “a singular vision with music and changing visual elements wrapped around some careful[sic] composed and curated poems to highlight different depictions of dreaming and sleep.” (Local Spins)

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